Hello,
One of the first phrases a student of Chinese is taught is 你好 (nǐhǎo). Yet an Italki tutor, in her profile, suggests that 你好 is not a real greeting in China. Rather, a Chinese person will 'pardon' you for saying it.
My local teacher recommended any of the following to greet someone in the morning: 早上好 (zǎoshàng hǎo), 你早 (nǐ zǎo), 早安 (zǎo ān), or simply 早 (zǎo). Yet I greeted a Chinese-speaking waitress with 早上好, who laughed and said that that was an outdated, formal greeting.
An early phrase that a student of Chinese is taught is 你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma)？ Yet, while that may translate as "are you good?", apparently it is not how Chinese people ask after each other. A YouTube video suggests that 你怎么样 (nǐ zěnme yàng) is a colloquial greeting. So far, Chinese people have responded to this greeting without derision or laughter. However, I feel like a broken record if I say it repeatedly.
This leads to my two questions.
First, how do Chinese people actually say "hello" to one another? (That is, if you are merely greeting the person, and not trying to start a conversation.)
Second, how do Chinese people ask "how are you?" of another person? (That is, if you actually want to start a conversation, rather than just greeting the person.)
Thank you to anyone who provides any suggestions.
I'm no expert, but use/receive these often
hello (if I know them) = 你吃饭了吗？
hello (for the first time) = 你好(familiar) 您好 (formal)
good morning = 早安 (Taiwan), 早 (mainland), 早上好 (formal)
how are you (if you truly don't care) = 怎样, 怎么样
how are you (if you truly want to know) = 你好吗
I hear Chinese people great eachother. They often say 喂, 嘿 and 嗨. They also like to say the other person's name.
你好 I've heard used while I was in China as a way of getting someone's attention like if you're in a restaurant and need the server to come over, kind of like excuse me
早上好 I've heard from Chinese parents used to teachers
I'm not sure strangers usually greet each other the way English speakers do as a way of saying "Hello, how are you?" really meaning hi, I see you and I'm going to be polite by asking "how are you?"
I hear 你怎么样 usually between people who know each other already - as in you are not strangers. Like a friend I haven't seen for a while I'll use this one. It means "How you've been?"
I don't think "Hello" and "How are you" are used in the same way in Chinese culture as they are in English speaking countries.
Like, I don't think I've heard people say "Hello, how are you?" while you are checking out at the grocery or when you walk up to the counter at the airport. Usually in USA (for me - dunno about UK or Australia) people will say "Hello, how are you doing today?" but I never remember anyone saying that to me in Chinese. It's more like the cashier rings up your grocery and you just pay the money and leave and the airport ticket counter you give them your check-in information and they process it.
I do however, say 老师好，阿姨好, etc.
My experience/knowledge though might be limited. Others might have a better idea.
Sometimes Chinese say 你吃了饭吗？ 你去哪里？ “Have you eaten?" or "Where are you going?" the way we would commonly use hello. But I'm not sure entirely in what context and with whom.
How's the chinese progressing?
